Fox

Complacency Dulling The Cutting Edge

Tv's Maverick Is No Logner Bucking Trends

September 01, 1991

C Though Fox Broadcasting still isn't a full-fledged network, it long ago became a major competitor. In doing so, the people at Fox turned into fat cats, lost a bit of their bite and started acting, even according to Fox Entertainment President Peter Chernin, "just like the other guys." In the meantime, the other guys were trying to act more like Fox, hanging their programming out over the edge more often, trying to get the American public interested again.

This fall, look to Fox for the best new sitcom of the season, a gem called "Roc." But don't be surprised if you also see a couple of the worst shows to be found anywhere, namely "Herman's Head" and a mid-season replacement with Sam Kinison called "Charlie Hoover" (if it ever makes it onto the schedule).

DREXELL'S CLASS (Thursdays, 8:30 to 9 p.m.) First they called it "Shut Up, Kids," but thought better of it. Then this half-hour about testy fifth-grade teacher Otis Drexell (Dabney Coleman) became, "Oh No, Not Drexell" before settling into "Drexell's Class." Feverish and unimaginative name changes usually signal big problems behind the scenes -- changes in concepts, casting, direction, the works. All of that holds true here.

Originally, Coleman ("Buffalo Bill"), whose character is described by Fox publicity as "an irascible reprobate," was supposed to be a tax dodger whose punishment was teaching -- something it turns out he does surprisingly well though in the most unorthodox style.

Whether those plot elements remain when the show makes its debut is unknown. He's a shady character, that much is certain. Available to critics for preview in "presentation" form -- something between a commercial and a full-length pilot -- Coleman appeared to be in his full Grinch glory. Still, there's no telling which way it could go. Right now it looks like "Married ... With Children" goes to school (except Drexell is a single parent with two teenage daughters).

HERMAN'S HEAD (Sundays, 9:30 to 10 p.m.) The Sybil of sitcoms. From the producers of "Soap" and "The Golden Girls" (Tony Thomas and Paul Junger Witt), "Herman's Head" is a cute but scatterbrained concept that, not surprisingly, doesn't come

together the way it's supposed to. William Ragsdale is Herman, an aspiring writer and Candide-ish character bewildered by life's challenges. We know this because we get a cutaway view of Herman's head -- psychologically speaking. Crowded into Herman's cranium is a cast of competing emotions known as Angel (Molly Hagan), Wimp (Rick Lawless), Genius (Peter Mackenzie) and Animal (Ken Hudson Campbell).

Every time Herman is confronted with some major decision -- whether to sleep with his buddy's girlfriend, for example -- his emotions take the stage. Done right but sparingly (like HBO's "Dream On"), it could work. As is, and again only a presentation was available for preview, the whole thing can give you a headache.

ROC (Sundays, 8:30 to 9 p.m.)

An Emmy-winner in the making. "Roc" is the classiest little sitcom of the fall season -- and it's about the life of a Baltimore garbage man.

Charles Dutton, a Tony nominee for his work in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson," heads a top-drawer cast in this slice-of-life comedy featuring two "Piano Lesson" co-stars, Carl Gordon and Rocky Carroll.

As Roc Emerson, Dutton has already been likened to a black Ralph Kramden and "Roc" to "The Honeymooners." And now that you've heard that, forget it. "Roc" has the potential to dig deeper. Far from a "regular laugh riot" as Ralphie-boy himself would say, "Roc" builds slowly. Its characters have yet to fully emerge, precisely because there appears to be some depth to them. That's thanks to superior performances and, no doubt, the guiding hand of creator-executive producer-writer Stan Daniels ("Taxi" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show").

In the pilot, directed by James Burrows ("Cheers"), Roc's dedication to a hard-earned American dream -- a place of his own ("semi-detached," he says dreamily) -- immediately endear us to him. He reads yesterday's USA Today to save a few coins, decorates his house with second-hand furniture and appliances and endures the opinionated jabs of his live-in dad (Gordon) and his unemployed, free-wheeling brother Joey (Carroll). Roc's wife Eleanor (Ella Joyce), when not working, talks about dreams, too, like buying something that's "not on sale." There aren't a lot of big laughs in the pilot, but there's plenty of risk-taking comedy -- especially from Roc's dad. When Joey turns up with a gift he purchased from the local fence, Roc protests.

"How do you know [he] stole it?" asks Dad. "Maybe he just looted it in some riot." "Roc" is solid entertainment.

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE (Fridays, 9 to 10 p.m.) It's getting harder all the time to tell one network from another, syndication from cable, one station from another; and this show is just one example.